Simon Dover was hired in August 2017 and currently serves as Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director for Business Operations and Chief Financial Officer.
With more than 25 years of leadership experience within intercollegiate athletics and professional sports and entertainment, Dover directs the overall management and operations of the business office, including payroll and benefits, travel, accounts payable, procurement, budget management and control, account reconciliation and inventory control.
He also is responsible for developing a long-term capital plan for athletics, assist with the financing of deferred maintenance for facilities and manage requests with the University Planning Committee. Dover is also the sport administrator for men's and women's soccer.
Dover is the athletic department’s administrator for specified service contracts and prepare and present financial reports to ensure compliance with reporting standards of the NCAA and the U.S. Department of Education.
Dover comes to West Virginia after spending the past three years as the chief financial and operating officer at Rice University. As a senior associate athletic director with the Owls, Dover directed the finances for 16 athletic teams, 95 staff members and more than 360 student-athletes. He managed all financial planning budget development, human resources and contracts for the Owls, designed a zero-based budgeting model for the department and negotiated the contract for the 2017 Rice football game in Australia vs. Stanford.
Prior to his tenure at Rice, Dover spent 16 years in various capacities at Oakland University, eventually becoming senior associate athletic director in 2011. At Oakland, he managed all facets of the department’s financial affairs and created its first strategic plan and management system. In his time at Oakland he administered 16 of the Golden Grizzlies 18 sports.
Dover also spent seven years with Palace Sports and Entertainment in Auburn Hills, Michigan, where he helped manage the financial affairs of the Detroit Pistons and The Palace of Auburn Hills. Before his involvement in sports, Dover served as a staff accountant with Edwards, Koshiw & Associates in Troy, Michigan, form 1988-91.
A native of Rochester, Michigan, Dover is a 1988 graduate of Oakland with a bachelor's degree in accounting, and he received his master's degree in finance in 1998 from Walsh College. He and his wife, Janice, have two children, Harrison and Haley.
